Yes. Really. There is another outbreak for Norwalk virus in Calgary, anyway. We had an outbreak in February of this year, and apparently we are in the midst of another outbreak. Sparing you the gory details, let’s just say we are having firsthand experience in our household. Chances our very good that dear hubbie picked it up in a nursing home setting (bless those nurses and aides who care for the elderly) and all you need to know is that this infection is highly contagious. Ahem…
So this post will be short and sweet with a couple of links to:
1. An excellent article in the Huffington Post on the Norwalk virus, which is commonly referred to as ‘stomach flu.’ It’s not really flu because the flu is a respiratory illness; Norwalk is all about the gut. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are the main symptoms¬—and sometimes all those symptoms at once. A little bit gross I know, but you will be happy to know that homeopathy can be very helpful if you or your loved ones happen to get Norwalk.
2. Dana Ullman has some tremendous resources on his website, and I would highly recommend his books for home prescribing. Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathy was my first book when I learned about homeopathy, and I was able to use remedies right away for so many common ailments. He sells his books on the website so do consider investing in a handy resource!
In our household, Podophyllum was and will likely be the go to remedy. Dana Ullman has written a great description of Podophyllum’s symptoms, but I would add one other symptom that I just learned about in the process of remedy searching…rotten egg burps. Podophyllum has them. As awful a symptom as it was for hubbie, it really was very helpful in choosing the best remedy. We had used Arsenicum originally at the onset (vomiting and diarrhea at the same time with chills and shaking), but Podophyllum was the better remedy in his case—and one of the reasons was this sulphur-ish smell with burping.
Rather than ‘wishing’ you had the right remedy on hand, I’d suggest that you keep at least Arsenicum and/or Podophyllum on hand. But have a look at Ullman’s remedy list and see if there is one that would be better suited for your family needs.
